Yes, unfortunately. A big old goose egg. When I was young (10-12ish) my father always had my even younger brother and me sit around the base of the same tree. And it never failed that the deer always walked up on my brother's side of the tree. We always hunted on popular public land and in a county that didn't have an antlerless season so pickings were slim to begin with.

When I was 14 or so I gave up on deer hunting. Well all outdoorsy stuff really. I didn't pick up a gun till about ten years later and just started hunting again last year. Only had a couple mornings last year and didn't see anything with horns. Hopefully that will all change this year. I have a place with a doe season on private property so maybe I can put some meat in the freezer.

Quote; ZeroJunk; October 13, 2012, 10:08 AM #1
I was thinking about this in another thread. When you are young it is easy enough so I never wrote it down. But, after 35 years or so of deer hunting I have lost track. I kill two most years, but some years one and some years four or five. I wish I had kept some kind of diary. Might be a good idea for some of you young guys cause your memory will go south on you sooner or later. Of course that gives you the luxury of remembering stuff that didn't happen and forgetting stuff that did.

No. I can't remember!!! But it started 50 years ago.

In my teen years I started a hunting diary, but somewhere between college, the Army, and a wife it got lost.

I have a buddy who is a biology instructor. He has a field book(s) with entries for almost all his hikes, hunts, fishing expeditions, etc. for the last 20 years or so. I am not sure what percentage, but it seems a lot and on several occasions questions have come up and he has been able to refer back to his field book. Drawings, maps, phrenology notes, quotes, and everything else. Some done in the field and some done that night. I have seen a few entries related to questions I have and was impressed. All of them together must contain an astonishing amount of information.

No, I haven't been smart enough to copy his behavior. I can't draw nearly so well nor do I have the diverse knowledge of nature he does.

I started keeping a log book several years ago for hunting, shooting and fishing. Some just have date and results others have weather, equipment info etc. I tried to go back and reconstruct all he deer hunts but many of them just sort of got glossed over. most of the really memorable ones were of just so so deer not trophys it was the hunt that was memorable. Early on there was only a buck season ( you could shoot 1) and later anterless came along, but still limit was usually 2 deer total. In the last 10 years I have killed less deer than in past as I enjoy helping wife and or so hunt more than I enjoy hunting myself. I still love squirrell and rabbit hunting more than deer hunting but just don't have the time I did when I was younger.

Even though I am now 66, I killed my first deer six years ago with a borrowed 7 mm magnum. I have since killed nine with my .30-06 NEF Handi Rifle, two with my NEF Huntsman .50 caliber muzzleloader, and one with my crossbow for a total of 13. I have yet to kill any this season.

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(Luke 11:21 KJV) When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace:

(Luke 22:36 KJV) Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.

I don't know, I remember back in my early twenties when I hit the fifty mark, but somewhere along the line, I quit keeping count, didn't seem important anymore.

I also used to try and kill big bucks, but nowadays I just try to get good eating size ones. One day last year I saw one of the biggest bucks
(160+ easy) I've seen while out hunting in along time, I let it walk. Later that day I shot a medium size doe, very tasty.

I kept a log for about 10 years: weather conditions, times, places, game seen, shots taken/not taken ..... the whole nine yards ...... I wrote it down because Jeff Cooper wrote: "If you don't write it down, it did not happen!"

....then I started taking the kids .... first my nephew, then my daughters .... The Boy starts next year, and I have promised to take my cousin's daughter and a friend from the VFD's boy ..... We got skunked a couple of years, as kids and all their foibles and impedimentia (bringing your sleeping bag out to the stand is just lugging a big human scent bomb out with you..... but OK, if it'll keep you out here.....) are not exactly conducive to success..... but we had a good time, and the kids learned to appreciate the successes we had. I think if it come as easily as it did for me when I was a kid, whe permits were harder to come by, they may have gotten bored..... as it is, my nephew has taken 3, Eldest 4, and my girliest girl Jac* took a shot this year (missed, but nephew dropped him) and wants very badly to get her own..... I have taken around 2 dozen deer, but I will remember the ones taken by my "apprentices" more than the ones I took ..... there is nothing like it the world: Watching your kids do something, with skill and confidence, that you taught them to do. Even better: Listening to them tell their friends about it ..... Nothing like it in the World, I tell you!

*Who fusses with her hair on the way to the stand in the pitch dark ..... "I'm not looking like a bedhead goofball, EVEN OUT HERE!"

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TheGolden Rule of Tool Use: "If you don't know what you are doing, DON'T."

Lost count at 30 deer when I was in my early 30's. I killed many, many more and am 69 years old now. So, I really do not know how many deer I have taken, but I know I can gut one without piercing the gut or bladder with a blindfold on, or by feel in the dark, so I had quite a bit of practice.

One. When I was 14. I didn't hunt a lot in my teens because football conflicted with deer hunting season, and then I was too busy during college. I just started hunting deer again this year and got skunked.

Just started hunting last year. I was too busy racing dirt bikes and chasing girls during my teen years. My total is 3, two last year and one so far this year. My total with various motor vehicles: WAY too many to count.

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